Page 6 of Monstrous Heat
The creature stared at me, eyes glowing like bonfires. Those wicked teeth parted, and his tongue swiped out. He barked out a hoarse, low cry, and then whirled to tear off into the jungle. Leaves and branches rained down on me with the fury of his passing.
I had a pretty good idea that rough sound had been a demand that I stay put.
Like hell I will.
I scrambled up the side of the hole and ran in the opposite direction. It might not be toward camp, but at this point, all I cared about was getting as far away as possible before that creature came back.
5
NATALIE
My lungs burned and my legs trembled like Jell-O, but I refused to stop. I’d lost both the flashlight and my backpack somewhere. I didn’t even remember slipping free of the pack. Maybe it’d caught on a branch, and I’d just run right out of it in my panic.
My phone. Map. Camera. Even if I could find our camp without the trail, would I be able to find the ruins again?
At this point, I honestly didn’t care. I’d run until dawn, find a road, a car, anything to haul my ass out of the jungle as fast as it could go. Then I’d hop on the first plane back to the States. Dr. Snyder could find a new dupe to write his research papers.
Too many years in my most favorite place in the whole world—the library—meant that I had to rest and give my lungs a chance to catch up. I ducked beneath the sweeping limbs of a massive tree and crouched down, trying to gasp and heave as quietly as possible. I couldn’t hear a thing over the pounding of my heartbeat. My vision swam and my tongue felt like a wad of cotton. I hadn’t eaten since lunch, and now I didn’t even have my emergency supplies. Nothing looked familiar. For all I knew, I’d run in completely the wrong direction and had crossed into Mexico.
Something hard and powerful snaked around my neck and jerked me back. Panicked that it might be that revolting tail, I clawed at the restraint.
“Shhh,” a man whispered against my ear. “There might be more out there.”
I drooped against him, relieved it wasn’t the monster. “Who are you?”
“Kroktl. You?”
Uh… What an odd name. “Natalie.”
He held me tightly against him. His body heat enveloped me, making me realize exactly how cold I’d been. Tall, broad, and strong, he made the jungle feel a little safer. Despite his weird name.
Until I realized that he didn’t have on any clothes. Like not even boxers. And he wasveryhappy to see me. I caught myself doing a mental measurement and my face blazed with heat. “Um, why are you naked? In the jungle?”
“I heard a ruckus and came to investigate. I have a cabin not far from here.”
A ruckus? Surely I hadn’t beenthatnoisy.
“You’re not in the Biosphere any longer. You crossed into the prime drug-trafficking corridor from Mexico that runs out of Laguna del Tigre National Park. There’s armed men and hidden airfields scattered all through this section of forest. You’re lucky that I found you first.”
I’d heard a man shout before the creature had run off. Hopefully it would be too busy feasting on criminals to chase after me. “Wait. How’d you know I was here for the Biosphere?”
“You’re dressed like a tourist. The Biosphere is why tourists come here.”
He stood, pulling me up with him. He kept me tucked under his arm, pressed to his side, and headed off into the jungle.
Wait. Are you just going to head off into the wilderness with a strange naked man with a very weird name?
What alternative did I have?
I could sit here lost in the middle of nowhere and hope the monster didn’t come back…
“There’s a big lizard-thing after me. Have you seen it before?”
“Lizard?” I couldn’t see his face, but I heard the smirk in his voice. “That sounds terrifying.”
“It was huge! Bigger than you. It picked me up with its tail and tossed me around like I weighed nothing at all.” I laughed self-consciously. Way to remind a potentially hot guy that I’m not exactly a model-sized zero.
“No way in hell a lizard is bigger than me.” He tightened his arm around my shoulders. “But I assure you that I could haul you around without breaking a sweat.”
